but in washington the debate is already beginning and today a key voice, a powerful voice was at last heard. >> the national rifle association. >> reporter: wayne lapierre, the long-time executive vice president of the nra, took to the podium in washington just an hour or so after the national moment of remembrance. for a week, the nra had been silent, uncharacteristically silent as their opponents lambasted them. >> change, change, change! >> reporter: today, lapierre fired back. >> the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. but since when did the gun automatically become a bad word? i call on congress today to act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every single school in this nation. >> reporter: it was the classic nra crisis response. no retreat. no surrender. the answer to gun violence is, more guns, lapierre said, and rerailed against the very notion of gun-free school zones. >> they tell every insane killer in america that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk. >> repor